Turning Tides
by Mockingfire
Summary: Johanna Mason learned a long time ago that feelings just caused pain. So why is she having to constantly remind herself of that now?...
1. Chapter 1

Five years since the war, and what had changed since then? She pondered, watching the scenery blur past the window.

Well, she was older. Obviously. But more notably than that, 5 years ago Johanna Mason would not have been caught 'pondering'. Ever. If she had had a thought, you'd have known about it, she would have made sure or that.

It's funny how situations can change so much. How people can change, and just how something so small, could have such a huge impact in the way you see the world.

In her case however, it wasn't some_thing_, more some_one_.

She remembered the day they had met, almost 5 years ago. It had taken so long for her to let her walls down, it had been against everything she'd struggled to maintain, but eventually, brick by brick, they had crumbled and she had fallen in love...


	2. Chapter 2

**(5 years earlier**** )**

'Come in' a voice called and she stepped inside.

He was stood by the window; he turned to face her as she entered. First impression? Tall, blonde hair, startling blue eyes, good looking...she dragged her mind away from those thoughts, which wasn't easy with those bright eyes fixed on her.

'Johanna Mason, Sir' she said standing to attention.

'Ah good, so you're my new second in command? You'll do, I suppose.' He said looking her up and down.

'What's that supposed to mean?' She blurted out before she could stop herself; she bit down on her tongue so she didn't say anything else. This was not a good way to start. She knew she should probably apologise, but she couldn't bring herself to utter the words.

The man raised an eyebrow. Then taking her completely by surprise, he laughed.

'Finally, someone with a personality. You know, the last person they sent, had about as much character as a wet dish cloth. 'Yes Sir, no Sir, three bags full Sir'...it was about as interesting as conversing with the furniture, actually even the table was better company.'

Johanna didn't know how to respond to this, so she stayed silent. Was this some sort of test?

'Oh alright then, pretend to be a wall. But I'm sure I'll see the real you again...'

He looked her over again then added '...not a bad looking wall either.'

She glared at him, and he smirked in response. 'See, I told you so. You can't pretend around me. Don't worry it'll be our secret. I won't tell them you're alive...I'll have you smiling before you know it.'

'Don't count on it..._Sir_' She told him, with emphasis on the last word, which only seemed to amuse him more and his smile widened.

She was infuriated because something about this man that was almost magnetic, and despite her better judgement she _wanted_ to return his smile...but no, she couldn't let that happen, not after what happened last time...no she couldn't let herself...feel...

Realising he wasn't going to get any further response he held out a hand,

'Caleb Leith.' He introduced himself.

'Captain Leith' she nodded in acknowledgement;

'Caleb.' He corrected, 'call me Caleb'

'Captain Leith' she repeated her voice firm. She wasn't taking any chances. He sighed,

'very well, if you insist.'

She relied with a sharp nod.

'Okay well I'll explain the basic plan's we have for reconstruction and then how's about I show you round the place? I don't suppose you've seen much of District 4.'

Her mind buzzed as she tried to think of some way out of it, but Caleb...no, _Captain_ Leith, interjected.

'Whatever you're planning won't work, so I suggest you suck it up, because as second in command you're stuck with me, whether you like it or not.'

She narrowed her eyes at him.

'Fine, _Sir._' She said, her eyes narrowed and her tone made it clear that she would rather not. Most people would have caved under her steely glare but he appeared completely unperturbed.

'Good,' he said clapping his hands together briskly, 'In that case, you'd better take a seat and I'll talk you through the plans.'

He pulled up a chair for her, close to his and gestured for her take a seat.

She sighed, then did as she was asked, but not before moving the chair two feet over, away from him. He grinned and she rolled her eyes. This was going to be more difficult than she'd thought.


	3. Chapter 3

She had to hand it to him, he was very good at his job. Once he put a hold on the infuriating attitude, it became apparent that he took his duty very seriously. He laid out the plans for the repair work, and indicated to areas on a large map of the District, explaining in detail the numbers he had stationed around the different areas and their roles. But each time she thought she could deal with this side of him, he would offer up a juvenile comment or flash her a confident smirk. It took all her will not to react to his teasing. And it was probably a good thing because she honestly didn't know how she would react...

'...and I think that's about it, for now.' He finished 'wait one last thing. You will be staying in one of the apartments nearby, I've made sure your things have been sent there ahead. I will make sure you know where you're going.

'Oh, thank you' she said, then as an afterthought, she added 'Sir'.

'You're very welcome,' he grinned, his military demeanour dissipating once again now that the serious business had been discussed.

'Okay so now that's sorted, how about that tour?'

She frowned, resisting the urge to roll her eyes at him. He'd already told her she had no choice so what was the purpose of the question; Courtesy? Or was he just trying to wind her up again? The latter was most likely.

He stood in a swift motion, she instinctively mirrored his action. There was a short silence as the pair stood facing each other, their eyes met and neither seemed able to look away. Johanna felt as though she were momentarily falling into a pool of warm water…then she realised where she was and she snapped back to reality. She averted her gaze sharply and he cleared his throat, smiling wryly and indicating towards the door which he opened for her. As she passed him her arm brushed accidentally against his, and she'd have sworn that sparks passed between them at the contact and she quickly moved away with a harried apology, her head bowed slightly so as to hide the faint pink colouring on her cheeks, silently cursing herself

_What was wrong with her!_

As the pair stepped out into the sunlight, Johanna found herself once again stunned by the landscape of District 4; not it's beauty, though behind the damaged property and debris scattered over the sand powdered ground, it still held a certain charm. What really caught her attention was the stark contrast between the other Districts she had visited. It had none of the tall trees of her home, only the occasional lone palm, and the concrete monstrosities of The Capitol, well, they had as much a home there as she did, and as for District 13, she couldn't imagine anyone here even considering venturing below the ground.

As they walked, Captain Leith pointed out the areas he'd shown her on the map. She viewed her surroundings with a mixture of emotions. She wasn't appalled exactly, it was just…sad, to see the place in such disrepair. Some areas seemed to have avoided attack completely, others had been reduced to piles of rubble.

What gave those buildings, _those_ families the right to preserve their life, when others had had so much taken from them? But nothing here, not even the homeless families, or the broken ones, could compare to the murderous glint she had seen in the eyes of Hunger Games tributes….children. There was nothing, that could compare to the horror of children reduced to nothing more than animalistic pawns for the entertainment of 'people' she had been there and that hadn't been the end of it…far from it, she had tried to resist but…

No. she stopped herself she couldn't think like that, she couldn't let herself dwell on the past; friends, family, The Games_…_

'Johanna?' Captain Leith asked her noticing her silence. 'are you alright?' the look of genuine concern warmed her heart, but she couldn't let him know that, she couldn't let anyone know that she cared, so the walls came up and she stiffened, shaking off the gentle hand she hadn't even realised he had placed on her shoulder.

'I'm fine, Sir' she said curtly.

'Well, this is where you're staying' he said handing her a key. 'I'll expect you to report at 8 am sharp.' she nodded mechanically and turned to leave, then he added.

'are you sure you're alright? You seemed…' she cut in

'I said I'm fine. Goodnight Sir.' then she unlocked the door but before she went in she added without turning. 'and it's Officer Mason, Sir. I'm here on military duty only and I would appreciate it if you could remember that, _Captain_.' and with that she closed the door, leaving him standing there.


	4. Chapter 4

She sat on the bed fully dressed. It was early, maybe 5 in the morning, but she couldn't go back to sleep, in truth she had hardly slept as it was. Her mind was buzzing with thoughts and emotions.

Eventually, she decided to go for a walk.

The morning air was crisp, and there was a cool breeze blowing in from across the water. She ended up on the beach. Sitting quietly at the edge of the waves. Letting the sound of each one fill her thoughts. Propped up on her arms, behind her, she felt the sand run through her fingers and oddly, the foreign texture calmed her a little.

On the horizon, there was a thin ribbon of pink light as the sun announced the start of another day.

Johanna liked being alone...not because she disliked people, but because when she was alone, she didn't have to pretend. She didn't have to hide who she was. She didn't have to fear hurting anyone...

And that was the real truth, she didn't like being alone, but she was afraid of letting anyone get too close, she couldn't bear the pain of losing anyone else she loved.

After her family...she had tried to keep her distance, but somewhere along the line she had found a friend, someone who understood her and what she had been through. But now Finnick was gone too...just like her family, just like everyone else she had ever cared about. She had no one except herself, but at least that way she didn't have the inevitable end and the pain it would leave in its place. And that was how she planned to keep it.

As the sun raised its head she stood, brushing grains of white sand from her uniform and began walking back to report for the morning. Ready to start another day.


	5. Chapter 5

'Okay, you four grab that one, two at each end.' Captain Leith directed and the men immediately followed orders 'okay on three; One, Two, Three...' , together they lifted the large beam and heaved in onto the back of the waiting carrier truck.

Johanna had been in District 4 for just under a week, since that first evening she hadn't spoken to Caleb unless absolutely necessary, and surprisingly, he seemed to be doing the same and he had treated her in a business like fashion; no joking, no teasing, not even a trace of that teasing smile. It made her sad, because though she couldn't admit it, she missed it.

She scolded herself for being childish, as she did each time she caught herself watching him, and reminded herself that this wasn't a social trip. And yet she found herself hoping to catch his eye.

That morning, they were in one of the worst hit areas , the pieces of timber that surrounded them, were what used to be the home of the District mayor, it would have been completely unrecognisable if it had not been marked clearly on the District map.

'Alright this next one's a bit more awkward, we'll have to be careful.' He told them studying the final supporting beams, two main beams still bearing the last section of what would have been the first floor, a third beam had fallen against the section of the ceiling, leaving them all precariously balanced against each other.

'We're going to have to take the beam on the side, Group 1 over this side with me, and Mason, you take Group 2 on that side, to counteract the balance, otherwise the whole thing will fall in. 'Okay, One...Two...Three!' the first group lifted the huge weight as Johanna's, held the other two support beams in place, preventing them from falling. With a team effort, that was added to the truckload of timber too and then there we're just the two left.

Captain Leith walked about thinking about the safest way to dismantle the structure. When he seemed to have come up with a solution he turned back the them. They waited for orders. But at that moment Johanna saw it shift, and she knew what was going to happen before it did.

She called out a warning, but she knew it would be no good, the beam came crashing down towards him and she leapt forwards, shoving him out of the way, but she miscalculated and she felt a sharp pain at the back of her head as the heavy object collided, and then there was darkness...


	6. Chapter 6

_**Hi guys sorry it's been so long since i updated, blame exams, i'd much rather be writing than those but that wouldnt help me pass, anyways here goes, enjoy and please comment xx**_

* * *

'Urgh' Johanna groaned when she woke, she felt like she's been hit by a truck.

'Johanna?' A voice asked. She didn't have to think about who it belonged to.

'I told you not to call me that' she meant to say, but she only got as far as 'I told you...' and even that came out as a raspy whisper.

There was a gentle chuckle in response, and she felt a gentle pressure on her hand. Wait, her_ hand_?

Slowly she opened her eyes, and there he was sitting by the side of her.

Looking down at her with his blue eyes, though the expression in them didn't match the accompanying smirk; it didn't quite reach his eyes, and there was a slight crease on his forehead.

His hair was tousled, in more of a 'haven't slept' sort of way rather than 'just got up'. He looked tired, and she told him so.

'I'm fine' Caleb told her.

'Seriously you look exhausted...how long has it been since you slept? And how long have I been out?' She added. Judging by the light she would have said it was early evening, so a few hours then?

'It's nearly 6:00am, so...almost 48 hours.'

'What!' She exclaimed and she tried to sit up but a sharp pain in her temple stopped her attempt and she had to close her eyes again briefly as a dizzy wave of nausia washed over her.

He gently pushed her back to the pillows, his expression concerned.

'Careful, best try not to move too much, you hit your head very hard.'

'What happened?'

'You almost got yourself killed that's what. I thought...'

'You thought what?' She asked then she realised 'you thought I was dead...?' She whispered.

'You shouldn't have done it.' He told her, his expression unusually hard, as was his tone. 'You could have died.'

she felt her temper rising _the ungrateful little...!_

'Well I didn't' she snapped, he was taken aback obvously not having expected such a reaction from her, but she wasn't finished 'And if I hadn't done anything you would have been killed for certain there's no 'could have' about it. But you know what? fine! next time I'll just sit back and watch, make sure you send me a postcard from the afterlife.' She finished venemously.

The pair glared at each other, though Johanna felt that being in bed made her's far less daunting.

His expressioned softened. 'I'm sorry' he sighed. 'I am grateful, really, but I wish...the last thing I want is for anyone to risk their own life for me...especially not you...I'm not worth it.' Caleb turned his head away. Johanna, careful not to move her head too much, placed a hand on his shoulder and he looked back at her, meeting her gaze. The words she'd been planning to say fell silent as she looked into his eyes. Part of her mind (a larger part than she cared to admit) was suddenlt all too aware of the few short inches seperating them. So close...

Caleb pulled back suddenly. He cleared his throat softly,

'I should go. I'll get one of the meds to come see you. Um...will you be okay?' She nodded in response, more than a little dazed.

Caleb stood there for a prolonged moment, he opened his mouth to say something, then thought better of it and instead walked out the room, with a single glance back at her.

Johanna stared after him,

What had just happened? How had it gone from raised voices to...well whatever that was.

She was confused and slightly disappointed...wait, what?

_You're crazy you know that?_ Johanna told herself, but it did nothing to slow her racing heart. Her cheeks were warm. Her head hurt too much to think straight. She felt her eye lids drooping, how could she be tired after being unconscious for two days? She faught sleep for a few minutes before surrendering, and as the darkness washed over her again, His face settled itself in her thoughts, and she smiled despite herself as she recalled the faint red tinting his cheeks when he'd glanced back at her...


End file.
